2. Academic Validation
  3. Dual-phase nanoscissors disrupt vasculature-breast cancer stem cell crosstalk for breast cancer treatment

Dual-phase nanoscissors disrupt vasculature-breast cancer stem cell crosstalk for breast cancer treatment

  • J Control Release. 2025 Jan 10:377:781-793. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.11.058.
Yao Qi 1,  Shuai Lv 1,  Changheng Xie 1,  Shi Du 2,  Jing Yao 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Druggability of Biopharmaceuticals, Department of Pharmaceutics, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China.
  • 2 International College of Pharmaceutical Innovation, Soochow University, Suzhou 215222, PR China; Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: dushi@suda.edu.cn.
  • 3 Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Druggability of Biopharmaceuticals, Department of Pharmaceutics, China Pharmaceutical University, 639 Longmian Avenue, Nanjing 211198, PR China. Electronic address: yaojing@cpu.edu.cn.
PMID: 39603539 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.11.058
Abstract

Clinical treatment effects of breast Cancer are heavily frustrated by the malignant crosstalk between tumor vasculature and breast Cancer Stem Cells (BCSCs). This study introduces a two-phase therapeutic strategy targeting the interplay between tumor vasculature and BCSCs to overcome this challenge. Here, we an FLG/ZnPc nanoscissor, which combines mild photodynamic therapy (PDT) to generate Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) with vascular normalization therapy (VNT) to break the crosstalk between tumor vasculature and BCSCs. In the first phase, our approach breaks the vascular niche that supports BCSCs by restoring tumor vascular function and promoting ROS-induced BCSCs differentiation into less malignant forms, enhancing treatment sensitivity. The second phase employs high-impact photothermal therapy (PTT) to ablate tumor masses. This integrated "mild PDT-PTT" approach aims to reduce tumor growth and metastasis, offering a comprehensive strategy for effective breast Cancer management.

Keywords

Breast cancer stem cells; Differentiation therapy; Photodynamic therapy; Photothermal therapy; Tumor vascular normalization.

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